Interior Designer Spotlight: Miami-Based Darla Powell Interiors

When you think of Miami you may think of sunny beaches, spring break hangovers, and Bahamas bound cruise liners, but I think of my ultra-talented designer friend, Darla Powell of Darla Powell Interiors. Specializing in residential design, Darla brings a minimalist sensibility to the southern east coast.

Darla Powell Designer

Since Miami attracts year round tourists looking for sun and fun, design expectations are vastly different here than they are elsewhere. Nevertheless, Darla has a firm grasp on her city’s unique likes and dislikes. She is innately observant, understanding to a tee what South Floridians have come to expect from their interior design professionals. I personally get a kick out of listening to Darla describe some of the regional design differences between Miami and Charlotte.

Even so, Darla is true to her preferred design aesthetic. Known for juxtaposing materials and colors, I am awed by Darla’s use of deep black tones against a crisp white wall, hard stone surfaces in the same space as a fuzzy off white area rug and rugged reclaimed wood in the face of delicate wainscoting.

Like her preferred design aesthetic, Darla is a juxtaposition of sorts. While she is kind-hearted and helpful, Darla is also tough as nails. Her prior career over-prepared her for stressful scenarios and team management because any designer knows that managing subcontractors is crazy stressful. Ha!

While working in her prior field, Darla started flipping houses for fun (and a profit) and it wasn’t long before homebuyers noticed her flair for design. She was asked to design a few homes, which further ignited her love for design and decoration. But her fierce passion for design started way before then. As a youth, Darla often went antique shopping with her grandmother and observed her mother constantly rearranging spaces in her childhood home.

Still, Darla actually credits the very popular podcaster LuAnn Nigara with giving her the courage to step into her destiny. As a faithful listener of A Well-Designed Business podcast, Darla gleaned the nuggets of advice she needed to go from part-time designer to a full-fledged design professional and business owner.

Darla’s down to earth personality appeals to homeowners who want quality, without the fussiness. On her weekly blog, she is candid, funny and forthcoming with homeowners. From reminding them that interior designers can actually save you money (we really can) to sharing the proper height to hang a TV, Darla’s blog is informative and always a great read!

Miami come get her! I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that this rising star has just begun to scratch the surface of her creativity and reach in the design industry.

For more information about Darla or to request her design services, visit her website here.